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Bacterial influence on alkenones in live microalgae.

Einat Segev1, Isla S Castañeda2, Elisabeth L Sikes3

  • 1Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA.

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Summary

Interactions between the microalga Emiliania huxleyi and bacteria can alter alkenone lipid production. This variability in lipid bodies and unsaturated alkenones affects sea surface temperature proxy reconstructions.

Keywords:
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Area of Science:

  • Marine biology
  • Microbiology
  • Paleoceanography

Background:

  • Alkenone lipids produced by the microalga Emiliania huxleyi are crucial proxies for reconstructing past sea surface temperatures.
  • While field calibrations are robust, laboratory cultures of E. huxleyi yield variable results, suggesting uncharacterized influences.
  • Algal-bacterial interactions are hypothesized to contribute to this observed variability in alkenone proxy data.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of specific algal-bacterial interactions on alkenone lipid production in Emiliania huxleyi.
  • To determine if co-culturing with Phaeobacter inhibens influences the quantity and type of alkenone lipids produced by E. huxleyi.
  • To assess the implications of these changes for the accuracy of paleotemperature reconstructions using the alkenone proxy.

Main Methods:

  • Co-culturing the marine coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi with the marine bacterium Phaeobacter inhibens.
  • Quantifying changes in algal alkenone-containing lipid bodies in co-cultures compared to axenic (pure) algal cultures.
  • Analyzing the relative abundance of unsaturated alkenones within the lipid bodies under different culture conditions.

Main Results:

  • Co-culturing E. huxleyi with P. inhibens led to a significant 2.5-fold reduction in algal alkenone-containing lipid bodies.
  • An increase in the proportion of unsaturated alkenones was observed in the co-cultured E. huxleyi.
  • These alterations resulted in an overestimation of reconstructed growth temperatures by up to 2°C compared to axenic cultures.

Conclusions:

  • Algal-bacterial interactions, specifically with Phaeobacter inhibens, demonstrably alter Emiliania huxleyi's alkenone lipid composition.
  • These microbial interactions introduce significant variability into alkenone-based paleotemperature proxies, potentially leading to inaccurate reconstructions.
  • Future paleoceanographic studies utilizing the alkenone proxy should consider the potential influence of microbial communities on lipid production.